Carnegie Andrew Quotes & Sayings

The surest foundation of a manufacturing concern is quality. After that, and a long way after, comes cost. — Andrew Carnegie

Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve! — Andrew Carnegie

Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself. — Andrew Carnegie

Steel is prince or pauper. — Andrew Carnegie

When I did big things, some large corporations like the Pennsylvania Railroad Company were behind me and responsible party. — Andrew Carnegie

There is nothing that robs a righteous cause of its strength more than a millionaire's money. — Andrew Carnegie

The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%. — Andrew Carnegie

I give money for church organs in the hope the organ music will distract the congregation's attention from the rest of the service. — Andrew Carnegie

The man of business knows that only by years of patient, unremitting attention to affairs can he earn his reward, which is the result, not of chance, but of well-devised means for the attainment of ends. — Andrew Carnegie

Humanity is an organism, inherently rejecting all that is deleterious, that is, wrong, and absorbing after trial what is beneficial, that is, right. If so disposed, the Architect of the Universe, we must assume, might have made the world and man perfect, free from evil and from pain, as angels in heaven are thought to be; but although this was not done, man has been given the power of advancement rather than of retrogression. The Old and New Testaments remain, like other sacred writings of other lands, of value as records of the past and for such good lessons as they inculcate. Like the ancient writers of the Bible our thoughts should rest upon this life and our duties here. "To perform the duties of this world well, troubling not about another, is the prime wisdom," says Confucius, great sage and teacher. The next world and its duties we shall consider when we are placed in it. — Andrew Carnegie

Humanities education is the worst thing for an industrialist. — Andrew Carnegie

To kill a man will be considered as disgusting [in the twentieth century] as we in this day consider it disgusting to eat one. — Andrew Carnegie

Speculation is a parasite feeding upon values, creating none. — Andrew Carnegie

There is no way of making a business successful that can vie with the policy of promoting those who render exceptional service. — Andrew Carnegie

The older I get the less I listen to what people say and the more I look at what they do. — Andrew Carnegie

Ninety percent of all millionaires become so through owning real estate. More money has been made in real estate than in all industrial investments combined. The wise young man or wage earner of today invests his money in real estate. — Andrew Carnegie

I am no longer cursed by poverty because I took possession of my own mind, and that mind has yielded me every material thing I want, and much more than I need. But this power of mind is a universal one, available to the humblest person as it is to the greatest. — Andrew Carnegie

The biographer is often asked at the conclusion of his project whether he has grown to like or dislike his subject. The answer of course is both. But the question is misplaced. This biographer's greatest fear was not that he might come to admire or disapprove of his subject, but that he might end up enervated by years of research into another man's life and times. That was, fortunately, never the case. The highest praise I can offer Andrew Carnegie is to profess that, after these many years of research and writing, I find him one of the most fascinating men I have encountered, a man who was many things in his long life, but never boring. — David Nasaw

When fate hands us a lemon, let's try to make lemonade. — Andrew Carnegie

I began to learn what poverty meant. It was burnt in my heart then that my father had to beg for work and there came the resolve that I would cure that when I got to be a man. — Andrew Carnegie

If it is right that schools should be maintained by the whole community for the well-being of the whole, it is right also that libraries should be so maintained. — Andrew Carnegie

There is no use whatever trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb himself. — Andrew Carnegie

This is where the children of honest poverty have the most precious of all advantages over those of wealth. The mother, nurse, cook, governess, teacher, saint, all in one; the father, exemplar, guide, counselor, and friend! Thus were my brother and I brought up. What has the child of millionaire or nobleman that counts compared to such a heritage? — Andrew Carnegie

A man who was generous with his wealth. It has been reported that during his lifetime, Carnegie gave away over $350 million of his money to help others. — Andrew Carnegie

Why should men leave great fortunes to their children? If this is done from affection, is it not misguided affection? Observation teaches that, generally speaking, it is not well for the children that they should be so burdened. — Andrew Carnegie

The worlds civilization started from the day on which everyone received reward for labour. — Andrew Carnegie

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents. — Andrew Carnegie

Give me the life of the boy whose mother is nurse, seamstress, washerwoman, cook, teacher, angel, and saint, all in one, and whose father is guide, exemplar, and friend. No servants to come between. These are the boys who are born to the best fortune. — Andrew Carnegie

I would as soon leave my son a curse as the almighty dollar. — Andrew Carnegie

Take away my people, but leave my factories and soon grass will grow on the factory floors ... Take away my factories, but leave my people and soon we will have a new and better factory. — Andrew Carnegie

Give me a man with an average ability but a burning desire to succeed and I will give you a winner in exchange every time. — Andrew Carnegie

There is no class so pitiably wretched as that which possesses money and nothing else. — Andrew Carnegie

The rare individuals who unselfishly try to serve others have an enormous advantage-they have little competition. — Andrew Carnegie

The sprinter unwisely indulges his arrogance against the marathon runner, and likewise, parents who encourage their children's narcissism do them no favours. It is best to accomplish something before becoming famous, because if the fame comes first, it often precludes accomplishment ... "You don't build a career by playing Carnegie Hall. You build a career and then Carnegie Hall will invite you to play". — Andrew Solomon

There is no use whatsoever in trying to help people who do not help themselves. — Andrew Carnegie

I choose free libraries as the best agencies for improving the masses of the people, because they give nothing for nothing. They only help those who help themselves. — Andrew Carnegie

I am as a speck of dust in the sun, and not even so much, in this solemn, mysterious, unknowable universe. — Andrew Carnegie

The more difficult a problem becomes, the more interesting it is. — Andrew Carnegie

There is little success where there is little laughter. — Andrew Carnegie

In that, we agreed with Andrew Carnegie, who said that huge fortunes that flow in large part from society should in large part be returned to society. In my case, the ability to allocate capital would have had little utility unless I lived in a rich, populous country in which enormous quantities of marketable securities were traded and were sometimes ridiculously mispriced. And fortunately for me, that describes the U.S. in the second half of the last century. — Warren Buffett

Do not look at mirage and look inside mirror — V.V. Rao

You are what you think. So just think big, believe big, act big, work big, give big, forgive big, laugh big, love big and live big. — Andrew Carnegie

The greatest astonishment of my life was the discovery that the man who does the work is not the man who gets rich — Andrew Carnegie

The battle of life is already half won by the young man who is brought in contact with high officials; and the great aim of every boy should be to do something beyond the sphere of his duties- something which attracts the attention of those over him. — Andrew Carnegie

Capitalism is about turning luxuries into necessities. — Andrew Carnegie

He that cannot reason is a fool. — Andrew Carnegie

Soldiers in foreign camps, so far from being missionaries for good, require missionaries themselves, more than the natives. Andrew Carnegie — H.W. Brands

Be king in your dreams. Make your vow that you will reach that position, with untarnished reputation, and make no other vow to distract your attention. — Andrew Carnegie

No man becomes rich unless he enriches others. — Andrew Carnegie

The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell. — Andrew Carnegie

Not only had I got rid of the theology and the supernatural, but I had found the truth of evolution. — Andrew Carnegie

Those who would administer [charity] wisely must, indeed, be wise, for one of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity. It were better for mankind that the millions of the rich were thrown into the sea than spent to encourage the slothful, the drunken, the unworthy. Of every thousand dollars spent in so-called charity today, it is probable that nine hundred and fifty dollars is unwisely spent - so spent, indeed, as to produce the very evils which it hopes to mitigate or cure. — Andrew Carnegie

It is more difficult to give money away intelligently than to earn it in the first place. — Andrew Carnegie

Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community. — Andrew Carnegie

The secret of happiness is renunciation. — Andrew Carnegie

The price which society pays for the law of competition, like the price it pays for cheap comforts and luxuries, is great; but the advantages of this law are also greater still than its cost- for it is to this law that we owe our wonderful material development, which brings improved conditions in its train. — Andrew Carnegie

It was clear to many American working men and women that the Homestead Steel Strike of the early 1890s, when Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick broke the backs of the steel workers, that that was a watershed. — David Levering Lewis

Andrew Carnegie, the poverty-stricken Scotch lad who started to work at two cents an hour and finally gave away $365 million, learned early in life that the only way to influence people is to talk in terms of what the other person wants. He attended school only four years; yet he learned how to handle people. To illustrate: His sister-in-law was worried sick over her two boys. They were at Yale, and they were so busy with their own affairs that they neglected to write home and paid no attention whatever to their mother's frantic letters. Then Carnegie offered to wager a hundred dollars that he could get an answer by return mail, without even asking for it. Someone called his bet; so he wrote his nephews a chatty letter, mentioning casually in a postscript that he was sending each one a five-dollar bill. He neglected, however, to enclose the money. Back came replies by return mail thanking "Dear Uncle Andrew" for his kind note and - you can finish the sentence yourself. — Dale Carnegie

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. — Andrew Carnegie

I have never known a concern to make a decided success that did not do good, honest work, and even in these days of fiercest competition, when everything would seem to be a matter of price, there lies still at the root of great business success the very much more important factor of quality. The effect of attention to quality, upon every man in the service, from the president of the concern down to the humblest laborer, cannot be overestimated. — Andrew Carnegie

Watch the costs and the profits will take care of themselves. — Andrew Carnegie

Instead of the question "What must I do for my employer?" substitute "What can I do" — Andrew Carnegie

As a parent and a citizen, I'll take a Bill Gates (or Warren Buffett) over Steve Jobs every time. If we must have billionaires, better they should ignore Jobs's example and instead embrace the morality and wisdom of the great industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. — Eric Alterman

The extraordinary genius of John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie 100 years ago was their recognition that the great wealth they had amassed could be put to public good and used to solve the complex problems for which there were no other sources of capital. — Judith Rodin

Strength is derived from unity. The range of our collective vision is far greater when individual insights become one. — Andrew Carnegie

Three generations from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves. — Andrew Carnegie

I believe the road to preeminent success in any line is to make yourself master IN THAT LINE. I have no faith in the policy of scattering one's resources. Andrew Carnegie — H.W. Brands

Here lies one who knew how to get around him men who were cleverer than himself — Andrew Carnegie

There is a power under your control that is greater than poverty, greater than the lack of education, greater than all your fears and superstitions combined. It is the power to take possession of your own mind and direct it to whatever ends you may desire. — Andrew Carnegie

Immense power is acquired by assuring yourself in your secret reveries that you were born to control affairs. — Andrew Carnegie

You cannot push any one up a ladder unless he be willing to climb a little himself. — Andrew Carnegie

He [Andrew Carnegie] wanted people to be able to lift themselves, to educate themselves, to train themselves. And there was no better way to do that than with libraries. — David Nasaw

TEAMWORK: the fuel that allows common people attain uncommon results. — Andrew Carnegie

Men who reach decisions promptly usually have the capacity to move with definiteness of purpose in other circumstances. — Andrew Carnegie

It's an irony that growing inequality could mean more money for philanthropy. In the U.S., quite a few of the ultra-rich have taken to heart the 19th century industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie's comment that it's a disgrace to die wealthy. — Geoff Mulgan

The man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth, which was his to administer during his life, will pass away unwept, unhonoured and insung no matter to what uses he leaves the dross which he cannot take with him. — Andrew Carnegie

A business is seldom if ever built up except on lines of strictest integrity. — Andrew Carnegie

Any person can achieve greatness if they understand the philosophy of success and the steps required to achieve it. — Andrew Carnegie

As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do. — Andrew Carnegie

Pioneering don't pay. — Andrew Carnegie

Here is the prime condition of success: Concentrate your energy, thought and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun on one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it. — Andrew Carnegie

Those who would administer wisely must, indeed, be wise, for one of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity. — Andrew Carnegie

It is trying to be other than one's self that unmans one. Be your own natural self and go ahead. — Andrew Carnegie

It marks a big step in your development when you come to realize that other people can help you do a better job than you could do alone. — Andrew Carnegie

Any idea that is held in the mind that is either feared or revered will, begin at once to clothe itself in the most convenient and appropriate physical forms available. — Andrew Carnegie

A man's reading program should be as carefully planned as his daily diet, for that too is food, without which he cannot grow mentally. — Andrew Carnegie

There is no idol more debasing than the worship of money. — Andrew Carnegie

Concentrate your energy, your thoughts and your capital. — Andrew Carnegie

Nothing tells in the long run like a good judgment, and no sound judgment can remain with the man whose mind is disturbed by the mercurial changes of the stock exchange. It places him under an influence akin to intoxication. What is not, he sees, and what he sees, is not. — Andrew Carnegie

Do not look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best. — Andrew Carnegie

A word, a look, an accent, may affect the destiny not only of individuals, but of nations. He is a bold man who calls anything a trifle. — Andrew Carnegie

Private Property, the Law of Accumulation of Wealth, and the Law of Competition ... these are the highest results of human experience, the soil in which society so far has produced the best fruit. — Andrew Carnegie

The much-maligned idle rich have received a bad rap: They have maintained their wealth while many There is scarcely an instance of a man who has made a fortune by speculation and kept it. Andrew Carnegie of the energetic rich, aggressive real estate operators, corporate acquirers, oil drillers, etc. have their fortunes disappear. — Warren Buffett

There is very little success where there is very little laughter. — Andrew Carnegie

The Republic may not give wealth or happiness, she has not promised these. It is the freedom to pursue these, not their realization, we can claim. — Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie loved libraries; he knew their importance to an educated society and as anchors to our communities. And so, just as some loyal baseball fans travel to attend games at all 30 major league stadiums, over the last decade or so, I have slowly, casually, visited Carnegie libraries whenever I am on the road. — Sam Weller

Andrew Carnegie noted in 1891, "The parent who leaves his son enormous wealth generally deadens the talents and energies of the son and tempts him to lead a less useful and less worthy life than he otherwise would. — Leonard E. Burman

Show me a man of average ability but extraordinary desire and I'll show you a winner every time. — Andrew Carnegie

There is scarcely an instance of a man who has made a fortune by speculation and kept it — Andrew Carnegie

I believe that the road to pre-eminent success in any line of work is to make yourself master of that line of work. — Andrew Carnegie